How well has Tobacco 21 ordinance worked in Peoria?

Sunday

Some central Illinois cities have already banned the sale of tobacco to anyone younger than 21 — a fact that advocates point to as they try to pass a law to make that apply statewide.

In Illinois, at least 30 communities have passed ordinances to raise the age to buy tobacco products to 21. Peoria, Normal and Washington are the only central Illinois areas to increase the age. The rest have been in Chicago or the suburbs.

While city and town officials have said it is too early to tell if the ordinance has had any effect on youth smoking, they are anticipating that it will have a positive impact.

The legal age to buy tobacco products in Peoria was raised to 21 in April.

Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis said 12 tickets have been issued to businesses for underage tobacco sales since the ordinance was passed.

The previous year, there had been four citations.

A majority of these citations were given out when the city first enacted the ordinance, so Ardis said it was just a matter of helping people to understand the change.

“We put the information (about the ordinance) up on our website,” Ardis said. “A majority of business owners are very proactive, they make sure they have the appropriate signage up. I think the majority of retailers are doing a good job.”

Selling tobacco to underage persons can carry a fine of up to $500, under Peoria’s ordinance.

Though Ardis initially heard concerns expressed about those under 21 going to buy cigarettes in surrounding areas, he said he hasn’t seen or heard anything that would validate that.

He said he has gotten a few letters and emails, particularly from high school-age parents, saying they appreciate what the city has done to discourage kids from smoking.

Normal, where Illinois State University is located, has had a Tobacco 21 ordinance in effect since Dec.1.

Normal city manager Pamela Reece said the city clerk’s office distributed materials to all the vendors in town notifying them of the new regulations.

“We’ve just been responding to any questions vendors may have,” she said. There have been few questions, though, she said.

Sgt. Jeremy Melville of the Normal Police Department, who recently took over the area that deals with alcohol and tobacco enforcement, said the town and police department have been informing people of the new rule.

“We’re not trying to pull the wool over anybody’s eyes,” Melville said.

Melville said he has not written any tickets or had any complaints of businesses selling to underage people yet.

One way police make sure businesses are complying with the law is by sending underage people to try to buy tobacco products. Melville said the new ordinance will not affect this, except for the fact that they might use slightly older people to attempt to buy now.

Businesses in Normal that sell tobacco to those under 21 are fined $50 the first time, with subsequent offenses fined up to $500.

Shelby Lawrence, the co-owner of Smoker’s Euphoria in Normal, estimates that the store has seen about 10 percent less foot traffic since the ordinance has been in place.

Some of this he attributes to cold weather, though he said it is also because a large population of his customers can no longer purchase tobacco products.

Lawrence is now focusing on the 21-year-and-older crowd and adjusting the store’s inventory to account for that.

“We’re doing marketing, for example, radio spots, to get our awareness up in the community,” he said.

Sales of Juul, a brand of electronic cigarette, have declined, as this brand was popular with the younger age group. As a result, Smoker’s Euphoria has ordered less of them.

Smoker’s Euphoria is going to continue following the ordinance, Lawrence said, though he thinks the local government “kind of overreached.”

“We’re carding, we make them aware of the law, we’re just adjusting,” Lawrence said.

Smoking Pleasure by Work in Peoria hasn’t seen a big difference in sales, as it has an older clientele base.

Jeff Griffin, president of the Peoria Chamber of Commerce, said he hasn’t heard any backlash from businesses since the ordinance was passed. However, he said it isn’t hard to get out of Peoria and drive somewhere where the legal age to buy tobacco is 18.

Monica Hendrickson, public health administrator for the Peoria City/County Health Department, said “it’s really too early to tell” how much impact the ordinance has made so far on teen smoking.

Hendrickson was one of the advocates of the ordinance to raise the age to 21 in Peoria last year.

“Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of disease,” Hendrickson said. “That was why we wanted to take on this as an emerging issue.”

Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the Tri-County Area, where Peoria is located, and is the second leading cause of death in the city, she said.

Diana Scott, community health programs manager for the Peoria City/County Health Department, said with the Tobacco 21 ordinance passed, anti-smoking advocates in Peoria are looking at other issues, such as going smoke-free in multi-unit housing.

“Of course, we still support Tobacco 21 at the state level,” Scott said. “People cross borders, they don’t stay in one place; they travel. Our youth, we don’t want them to go into other areas and purchase tobacco and bring it back.”

In Normal, a group of 25 Illinois State University health promotions students and Jackie Lanier, an assistant professor in health sciences, led the push to get Tobacco 21 enacted.

Students went to talk to town council members and other officials about moving the age to 21.

“It was a unanimous decision by the town council (to support it),” Lanier said.

Like others, she said the long-term effects of the ordinance won’t be known for a while, but if what has happened in other areas is any indication, “you will see a reduction” in smoking rates.